Madras High Court Reserves Verdict On Retired IPS Officer's Appeal To Reject MS Dhoni's ₹100 Crore Defamation Suit

The bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice M Jothiraman reserved the order after hearing the counsel for the retired officer and the cricketer.

In December 2021, a single judge had dismissed the application filed by Kumar, stating that it was filed just before the commencement of the trial to delay it.

It may be noted that Dhoni had filed the defamation suit in 2014 against Zee Media Corporation, Sudhir Chaudhary- Editor & Business Head of Zee News, IPS Officer G Sampath Kumar, and News Nation Network Pvt Ltd. He had also sought damages of Rs. 100 Crore.

Kumar argued that he was an honest police officer and had merely performed his duty. He submitted that he had already been exonerated in the departmental proceeding and that the allegations against him are motivated.

The single judge had noted that the contention could be taken as a defence at the time of trial and could not be a basis for rejecting the plaint.

In August 2025, the Madras High Court ordered commencement of trial in the defamation case and also appointed an Advocate Commissioner to record Dhoni's evidence.

Counsel for Appellant: RC Paul Kanagaraj, T Karthikeyan, R Ramesh

Counsel for Respondent: Senior Advocate PR Raman

Case Title: G Sampath Kumar v. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Others

Case No: OSA 326 of 2025